Maps of Brazil according to brazilians

Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population, with over 193 million people. It is the largest Lusophone country in the world, and the only one in the Americas. Can you imagine how many different points of view exist in Brazil? This article is about regional stereotypes within a country.

There are several maps of Brazil made according to an exaggerated view of a prejudiced person from some place or another.

Maps of Brazil according to amazonenses:

Map of Brazil according to amazonenses

A gente = Here we are.

80% da nossa população carcerária = 80% of our prison population. Amazonenses have a kind of rivalry with Paraenses. The Amazonas History is linked indeed with the Pará History, once this great area was named “Gran Pará” with the capital in Belém (PA). Nowadays, Manaus (AM) has reversed this situation and became the “North Capital” with a great prospective, it means that people from other states come to Amazon expecting to get a good life, a good job, but sometimes this doesn’t happen, and they become a thief, or living in a risk area in suburbs…

Transição para Margarita = The Amazonas is not connect with the rest of Brazil with highways, however it’s connected with Venezuela wich means C-A-R-I-B-E. So people use to go to Venezuela by car. The beaches most commons are Margarita, Curaçao and Aruba.

Pantanal = The Pantanal is one of the world’s largest tropical wetland areas, and is located mostly within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay. The name “Pantanal” comes from the Portuguese word pântano, meaning wetland, bog, swamp, quagmire or marsh. By comparison, the Brazilian highlands are locally referred to as the planalto, plateau or, literally, high plain.

Praia, Mar, Caranguejo e Nosso Destino Preferido = Beach, Sea, Crabs and Our Preferred Destination. In the vacancies amazonenses prefer to travel to the northeast beaches, so is easy to see someone of your city over there.

Lugar onde se tira o visto para ir para Miami = Place where we can take the visa to go to Miami. The most economic place to us to take our visa to go to United States is in Brasilia. Brasilia is a travel about 3:30 hours on a plane.

Futebol = Soccer. The Amazonian tend to cheer for the Carioca teams, because our regional football has no tradition.

Futebol e Compras na 25 de março = Soccer and Shopping at 25 de março. 25 de março is a traditional place to shop in Brazil. There are 3 main shopping buildings in this area: The Shopping 25 de março (“25th March Shopping”), the Shopping Oriental (“Oriental Shoppjng”) and the most famous Galeria Pagé (“Pagé Gallery”) and at the streets you can find a lot of stores with a miscellaneous kind of products: Tenis, Toys, Packaging, Jewelry, Bags, Stationeries, etc… Most of these stores sells only in bulk and low prices, so many stores owners from far districts or other cities come to this place to buy goods for resale. Also end user consumer can buy goods, but at higher prices. Most of stores located in 25 March are owned by Lebanese and Chinese Immigrants. Most Immigrants working there just know how to say few words in Portuguese, like the prices and features of the products.

As mina tudo parece modelo, bicho! = Dude, every girl looks like a top model!

Povo que fala engraçado = People who speak funny. The accent from Rio Grande do Sul to Amazon is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! It’s so funny hear them.

Maps of Brazil according to paulistas:

Maps of Brazil according to paulistas

Não existe = Does not exist. It’s an internet meme among Brazilians that the state of Acre doesn’t exist, because it’s very remote (no one has gone there). It can be seen in several of these funny maps.

Só mato = Just forests. Common stereotype among Brazilians from other regions that the Amazon is just one big rainforest/jungle.

Bahia = Bahia (as in the state). The most numerous Northeastern immigrant group in Sao Paulo is the one from Bahia. In the state it’s normal to refer to any kind of Northeasterner as “baiano”.

Duplas sertanejas = Country music duos. Goias is known for its cowboy/caipira culture, with lots of country music singers coming from there.

Queijo = Cheese. Minas Gerais is famous for its cheese and cheese-bread. Apparently it’s famous only for that among some people.

Sem importância = Without any importance. The state of Espirito Santo is one of the most bland, according to the stereotype. Its culture hasn’t impacted Brazil much.

Argentina brasileira = Brazilian Argentina. The rivalry between paulistanos/paulistas (those from the city/state of Sao Paulo) and cariocas/fluminenses (those from the state/city of Rio de Janeiro) is legendary. As legendary as the rivalry/hatred Brazilians have against Argentineans, hence the name.

Santos = Santos. The name of the most important port in the state of Sao Paulo. A generalization made against all the caiçaras (the people who live in the coast of the state).

Gostosas = Hot girls. The beuaty of girls from the states of the southern region of Brazil is admired in the other states, hence this stereotype.

Bichas = Fags. Other Brazilians like to make fun of the southernmost state of Brazil, Rio Grande do Sul, saying all their men are fags.

Maps of Brazil according to paulistas

This other map is pretty much the same as the other, but less detailed. In this one, every one that comes from the north of Sao Paulo is described as a baiano (from the state of Bahia). The state of Rio De Janeiro is described as a radioactive area, again due to the rivalry between paulistas and cariocas.

Puxa-sacos = Ass kissers. The state of Mato Grosso do Sul has a culture that’s very similar to Sao Paulo’s, so to paulistas they’re seen as asskissers, since they imitate so much things from the hinterlands of their state. On another note, in the Paulista Constituionalist revolt of 1932, when the people of Sao Paulo rose in arms against Getulio Vargas, the people of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul allied themselves with the paulistas. This was before Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul were different states (and one of the reasons their state was separated afterwards).

Maps of Brazil according to cariocas:

Maps of Brazil according to cariocas

Área desconhecida = Unkown area. Again, making fun of the remoteness of Acre.

Amazônia = Amazonia. Describing all the states as one big jungle, again.

Paraíba = Paraíba (the state). The most numerous Northeasterner immigrant group in Rio de Janeiro hails from Paraiba, hence the generalization of all the Northeasterner states. Cariocas say all northeasterners are paraibas, while paulistas say they’re all baianos.

Entrada para a Paraíba = Entrance to Paraiba. Again, the state of Espirito Santo is so bland it’s seen just as a way to get to the Northeast and vice-versa.

Palacio do Catete II = Catete Palace II. Rio de Janeiro used to be Brazil’s capital until 1960. The federal government palace used to be the Catete, until Brasilia was constructed. Cariocas have never overcome the fact that their city isn’t Brazil’s capital anymore.

Região sem praia = Region without beaches. To most cariocas (and in a lesser way, to most fluminenses) the beach is everything. So a big state with lots of people and without beaches like Minas Gerais is seen as very puzzling or boring. Why would people choose to live there?

Pantanal = Pantanal. A big swamp, the Brazilian version of the Chaco. All the Central-Western states are considered to be part of it in the cariocas’ mind.

Argentina = Argentina. The southern states are seen as just a continuation of Brazil’s southern neighbour.

Interiorr = Paulista/caipira accent draws the “r”. The interior are the hinterlands of Brazil, and cariocas think paulistas are hillbillies or rednecks.

Maps of Brazil according to gauchos

Maps of Brazil according to gauchos

Civilização = Civilization. To gauchos, only they’re civilized.

Extensão natural do Rio Grande do Sul = Natural extension of Rio Grande do Sul. Many gauchos went to the Central Western region of Brazil from the 1960’s onwards, as their families grew and land to farm became scarce. So, as a solution, they went to the agricultural frontier, the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Mato Grosso and Goias. In the last decades, they’re going into the Amazon region.

Praias próximas = Close beaches. The beaches of the coast of the state of Santa Catarina are very beautiful, and lots of gauchos (and argentineans) like to spend their vacations there.

Fregueses = A football thing. Regional rivarly between the teams from the South and from Sao Paulo, with gauchos thinking the latter always lose to them.

Favelas = Slums. Rio de Janeiro’s favelas are very famous and are seen on TV constantly.

Gente que não sabe fazer churrasco = People who don’t know how to make a good barbecue. Barbecues are a very important part of gaucho culture and they think they’re the best at it.

Praias distantes = Distant beaches. The coast of the Northeastern states of Brazil are very beautiful, with a summer that lasts all year long. Unfortunately, to gauchos, it’s very far away.

Destino dos impostos = Taxes destination. The hinterland of the Northeastern states is the poorest part of Brazil, with a semi-arid climate. Lots of government actions over the last decades have tried to solve that, and gauchos apparently aren’t happy with paying to solve this regional inequality.

Terra dos índios = Amerindian land.

Só tem mato = Only forests. Again, the stereotype about the Amazon.

Non ecziste = Doesn’t exist. Again, a meme about the remoteness of Acre. It’s spelled this way due to a TV show about the inexistence of paranormal activities.

[…] cartographic collection that sheds light on this important regional rivalry. The site, called National Stereotype, takes on all manner of national and regional stereotypes with a tone of good-natured amusement. A […]